Definitions for moaˈmoʊ ə

This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word moa

Princeton's WordNet(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

moa(noun)

extinct flightless bird of New Zealand

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

moa(Noun)

A very large, extinct, flightless bird of the family Dinornithidae that was native to New Zealand; until its extinction, one species was the largest bird in the world.

Origin: From moa, from moa.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

Moa(noun)

any one of several very large extinct species of wingless birds belonging to Dinornis, and other related genera, of the suborder Dinornithes, found in New Zealand. They are allied to the apteryx and the ostrich. They were probably exterminated by the natives before New Zealand was discovered by Europeans. Some species were much larger than the ostrich

Origin: [Native name.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

Moa

The moa were nine species of flightless birds endemic to New Zealand. The two largest species, Dinornis robustus and Dinornis novaezelandiae, reached about 3.6 m in height with neck outstretched, and weighed about 230 kg.
Moa belong to the ratite group in the order Dinornithiformes. The nine species of moa were the only wingless birds, lacking even the vestigial wings which all other ratites have. They were the dominant herbivores in New Zealand's forest, shrubland and subalpine ecosystems for thousands of years, and until the arrival of the Māori were hunted only by the Haast's Eagle. It is generally considered that most, if not all, species of moa died out by 1400 AD due to overhunting by the Māori and habitat decline.

The Nuttall Encyclopedia(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

Moa

the name of several species of New Zealand and Australian birds, from 2 to 14 ft. high, and quite wingless; almost extinct since the 17th century; two living specimens were captured in 1876.